The mysterious interrogation
by carltonflora
Summary: A short story


_**The mysterious interrogation**_

The phone was ringing continuously. Dr. Mita Sen tossed and turned and slowly yet reluctantly woke up from her peaceful slumber. The phone was still ringing! She reached out and took the receiver from the cradle.

"Hello! Dr. Sen here." Her voice was ruffled and she felt annoyed being woken from her sleep.

"Yeah! I know who you are Dr. Sen, you need not introduce yourself." A grave male voice said from the other end.

What the hell! Mita felt extremely annoyed now. What's this! Some kind of a mischief monger calling her up at 2am just to have some fun! That's what one call irony of the profession of a doctor, she thought.

" May I help you?" she asked.

" No one can help me now because it's too late!" the voice seemed sad yet composed.

Suddenly Mita felt very cold at this statement. Somehow the voice seemed mesmerizing that urged her to continue the conversation.

"Please tell me how can I help you, I'll try to help you as much as I can" she said.

"So you are willing to help me…that's nice because I need answers to some of my questions which, except you, no one can answer." said the voice

"What are those questions?" Mita enquired.

" Well…doctor, tell me, how good a mother have you been?" the voice asked this unusual question without any emotions, so it seemed to Mita. She thought whatever the voice wants to know is totally rubbish. She felt an urge to give a good tongue lashing to the voice, how dare a stranger ask her this question, that too, in the middle of night.

Composing herself and trying to control her anger she said, "Look, I don't think you are interested to learn about my motherly feelings at this odd hour! This cannot be the reason of your call, is it?"

The voice laughed and replied, "That's the exact reason for my calling you at this so called "odd" hour. Moreover, you are a very busy doctor and so, I am sure this is the appropriate time for us to talk."

"Listen! If that's the reason for your calling me then I am sorry to ask you to "go to hell!" she literally shouted.

" So my presumption was absolutely correct- you are an escapist by nature." The voice seemed to pinch her.

" Stop it! How dare you! You don't know who am I! I am one of the famous psychiatrists of the city! By the way… how did you get my private phone number? Anyway… I am not interested in continuing our sweet little chit-chat!" Mita retorted.

"So, you admit that it's a nice chat that we're having and this is good to know. As for having your private number you see, I believe that when there's a will, there's definitely a way! Ok…now let's concentrate on my question ma'am…that is, your valuation of yourself as a mother." The seemed to be devoid of any kind of emotions whatsoever.

"Are you a reporter? Although I don't care even if you are but since you are disturbing my peace I would answer your question once and for all. I have done every possible thing for my son's well being, so that he becomes a secured person in future." Mita said.

"Well! I don't think so! You see, I have had the chance of meeting your son Mrinal and he seemed to me as a very disturbed and insecure person. Tell me… did you ever go to picnics with him or movies? did you attend his debate or elocution programmes? ever sat beside his bedside when he fell ill? ever appraised him to score good marks in tests?" the voice quizzed her.

"What nonsense! Look, I am not answerable to any person regarding my role as a mother but yes, I do admit of not doing those things that you have just mentioned but, that's because building my career was much more vital to me at that point since I and Mrinal's father had just separated and I wanted to give my son a very good life, without anyone's aids. Now, at the age of 25, my son has everything in life without even working! he has 4 mobiles, 2 pagers, 1 laptop, 2 PCs, 3 cars and Armani suit and what not!" she made her points clear.

"Actually you wanted to spoil your son. The wealth and opulence of yours was what you gave your son everytime he yearned for love. The reason of your split with your spouse was also because being a simple, middle-class, peace loving professor, your husband was unable to support your kind of extravagant lifestyle." The voice sounded stern and angry.

"You seem to know a lot about me. Well, maybe your statements are correct but the split occurred also because I was more talented and had more potential to be successful than my better half. However, that doesn't imply that I neglected my son because Mrinal is my life and the only source of light for me. I love him a lot."

"When did you meet him last?" asked the voice.

" Its been 3 years, to be precise. He is in UK, at Eton completing his law degree."

"That's a pretty long time, probably you've forgotten how does he looks like, isn't it?"

"Can a mother ever forget her son? I remember his lovely locks, his brown eyes and deep baritone." She reminiscence fondly.

" I don't think so because you are so engrossed in your profession that you had hardly have the time and inclination to remember him" the voice said.

"Look here Mr. whoever you are, enough is enough! Its 3 AM now and I've endured you for a long time and I am surely putting down the phone now." she shouted in anger.

" I won't stop you now. Whatever I needed to learn, I have learnt that. This is the last call I am making to a fellow human because within 10 min I'll be dead. I needed to talk to someone, you can say that it has acted as a moral boost in my "operation suicide". Thanks for talking to me for so long. Good-bye." The line was disconnected.

"Wait! Please listen to me! Why do you have to die! I'll help you, tell me your problems…." she was pleading frantically but the line was already being cut!

At 3AM, the most famous psychiatrist of Kolkata, Dr. Sen had to take 3 sleeping pills to calm her nerves and go to sleep. When she woke up, it was 11AM! Obviously all her work and patients will be waiting. However, the atmosphere at her residence was not the usual one. There was no "Good Morning" being said to her, no tea on her table and no newspaper, her dress was not pressed and even breakfast was not being made!

"Just one day that I am not on time and look at my assistants and servants, they are here only to have money and kill time." She thought.

Just then her oldest maid Shanti entered and sat beside her. She was very upset over something. She had swollen eyes that looked reddish and she was in tears.

Mita tried comforting her, "what's the matter Shanti, any…" but before she could finish Shanti broke down. She was saying, " memsaab, I have neither the courage nor the words to tell you but I have to tell you—our little Baba…."

"What about Mrinal?" Mita panicked.

"He committed suicide in UK. His friends had called up to tell us this and according to the doctor there the time is 3AM in India when all these happened. The strange part is that the last call he made was to you! Oh, memsaab what did you tell him? did you argue over something? why couldn't you ask him not to do this thing? Oh! memsaab! you know, his suicide note says that he couldn't continue because he feels neglected and no one loves him.

Oh! how can anyone not love Baba, he was such a nice, soft-spoken and kind person.

Oh! no! memsaab! please don't faint! Hari! Raghu! call Doctor Saab fast! Memsaab is fainting."

But Mita was not listening anything, because her head was spinning. It was Mrinal with whom she was talking last night and she couldn't even remember his voice! Really, she has failed miserably in her role as a mother. Just on the verge of losing her sanity, she enquired to God, " Why did you do this to me?".

Ruchira Chakraborty

W2AR-7/9 PH-4B

GGUC, Kolkata-95

India.


End file.
